A Manhattan federal judge on Thursday threatened Rudy Giuliani with civil contempt as the former New York City Mayor appeared in court after failing to turn over assets—in violation of a court order—to satisfy a $148 million defamation judgment.

"The notion that your client doesn't have any knowledge of where his assets are is farcical," U.S. District Judge Lewis Liman of the Southern District of New York told Giuliani's lawyer, Kenneth Caruso.